Diseases and characteristics of patients getting inpatient complementary medicine in acute care –a retrospective analysis of inpatient records over a period of 17 years

Complementary therapies are becoming increasingly popular with patients. Specialized clinics can offer complementary medicine to patients in the German healthcare system, taking into account specific structural requirements. However, little is known about the patients treated in these hospitals. For this purpose, 12,457 hospital stays were analysed from 2007-2024 in an approved acute care hospital to obtain more information about the illnesses, comorbidities, length of stay in hospital, age, and chronicity of the patients. Approximately half of the hospital stays examined showed pain-related disorders (49.3%), followed by common internal medical conditions (11.7%) and psychological diagnoses (10.3%). Women showed on mean 14 secondary diagnosis (median 9.0, IQR 6.0), male patients 9.1 (median 9.0, IQR 6.0). 5562 stays showed five or more comorbidities. Considering all hospital stays, the female gender predominated (N=9680, 77.7%, 95% CI 77.0-78.4% vs. male N=2777, 22,3%, 95% CI 21.6-23.0%). The mean age of female patients was 64.6 (median 65.0, IQR25.0) of male patients 64.8 (median 66.0, IQR 24.0). The mean length of stay was 12.2 days (median 14, IQR 7.0). A large number of patients have chronic conditions, with pronounced pain and psychological impairments. A complementary medicine treatment concept focuses on the treatment of chronically ill patients with multiple diseases.